Divisions

Part 3- Chapter 12

Natalia

2 days later

"Natalia!" The voice yelled, approaching me.

The voice was so familiar; I could tell who he was.

"Jarred," I breathed, smiling.

"I love you, Natalia, but I have to do this," he said, coming closer.

He held a pistol. He was pointing it at me.

"Jarred?"

His face morphed into Mr. Sanders, who placed his hand nearer to the trigger, but then moved it towards his own head.

Then, in an instant, with the sound of the gun, the image changed, and I could see an older man in a leather jacket, my father.

"Nadia..." he said, his voice aggressive. He was calling me by my mother's name.

He neared me, and just before he could lay a hand on me, the image changed again.

I was running, and behind me stood a little boy.

My brother, still in his green soccer shirt, his eyes filled with tears.

"Natalia..." he said, looking in to my eyes. "Don't go... please don't go..."

I tried to stop, to run towards him, but I could not. I had to keep running.

"Nicholas...." I moaned. "Nicholas I don't want to go, please..."

"Nat, are you okay?" a voice called out, snapping me back to reality.

I sat straight up, panting.

"Rick," I said, as he took me in his arms.

"It's just a nightmare, Natalia," he said, gently whispering into my ear.

I looked up at Ricardo.

"Thank you, for being here," I said, as his face broke into a smile.

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Jarred

"Can I come in?" Gia's voice called out.

I went to the door and let her in.

"Is Mark still here?" she asked.

I nodded.

"That's okay," she sighed. "I would need to run into him at some point, right?"

She walked further into the living room and went to fetch a few of her possessions that she had left behind from when they were together.

Mark then came walking into the room, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, Gia," he said, nervously.

"Hey, Mark," she replied, smiling.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry about how we ended..." Mark began.

"No..." she insisted. "You deserve to be who you want to be. I can't stop you,"

"Thanks for understanding, Gia," he smiled.

"It's all good, Mark," she said, about to leave.

"Wait, Gia, I still have some things of yours from the room. I'll bring them now," he said, walking to his room.

Gia looked at me, smiling shyly.

"So, Jarred. How's everything going with Natalia?"

"As always," I sighed. "Impossibly. It's clear she loves Ricardo,"